e has sustained us in the Philippines with joy, and gratitude, and strength. Even when we have been weak, God has kept us strong. His grace has been sufficient for us day by day and we have experienced His new mercies every day. We thank God for the privilege of participating in what He is doing in the Philippines.The construction team made great progress today despite being down five team members. We had two team members home sick today and three participating in the Pastors’ Conference. We have reduced the work day and pace slightly in order to care for the health of the team. The electrical team continues to make good progress with the installation of the electrical system and it looks like they will complete the work they started.
The concrete team has poured more beams and added seven rows of concrete brick to the second floor. At one point the wind was so strong that a few new blocks toppled over and the layer of new bricks in the wall began to sway. The team had to reinforce the wall for the curing period. The backboard for the community basketball court has been installed and a first coat of paint applied. We are excited to add this small improvement to the community.
There are about 50 pastors attending the conference. Today there were two session on “Communicating God’s Word With Clarity”, one session on “The Role of Illustration in Communicating God’s Word,” and one session on “Recognizing Culture and Thought Pa
ttern in Communicating God’s Word.” We are using 1Corinthians as our text for teaching.The goal is for the pastors to go home with sermon outlines for all of 1Corinthians. Today the pastors broke into small groups to begin drafting their sermon outlines. Their first assignment was to identify the main idea of their text and then to identify main points. It was encouraging to see all of the pastors at work and to see this practical application of the material that we are teaching. The picture at the top is of Pastor Paul Caampued, his wife Arcy, daughter Marichu, and son Paul Jr.
Please pray …1. …for continued safety on the job site and health for the team. Please pray especially for the two team members who are running fevers.
2. …for continued wisdom and foresight for those who are managing the construction project.
3. …for continued joyful and effective service for the construction team.
4. …for effective equipping of the pastors for preaching and teaching. Pray that we would be able to strength their gifts, their courage, and their love for the Savior.
5. …for fellowship as a team as we hear one-another’s testimonies, work together, and express words that speak of God’s lavish grace.
6. …for our families back home, their safety and health, joy and gratefulness in their calling, vision for how they are serving the gospel in the Philippines, and fellowship with one-another.
